Car Review: 2012 Lotus Evora S

Originally published: November 28, 2011

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

MIRABEL – The famous marques of sports cars have endured the ups and downs of the marketplace and the dangerous waters of corporate takeovers. So much of a marque’s essence is a very ethereal blend of heritage and design philosophy. This is no more true than for Lotus Cars Ltd.

Lotus’s design philosophy is rooted in one man’s vision: Colin Chapman, who died of a heart attack in 1982 at the age of 54. Chapman was a practical man’s engineer who came up through aviation on his way to automotive design. This different path influenced his designs and Chapman was infamous for introducing unique approaches to gain performance from his cars. Wings, composites, monocoques and ground effects all sprang from his racing endeavours. At the base was the simple rule that lightweight gave as much performance as high horsepower.

In 2009, Lotus Cars introduced its latest road car to the world, the Evora, as a 2010 model. Now we have the Evora S, as in supercharged.

Thankfully Lotus has followed Chapman’s vision when designing the Evora. In race car fashion, the chassis is made up of three modules of lightweight, epoxy-bonded extruded and sheet aluminum structure that are bonded together to form an extremely rigid structure. To this structure, Lotus attaches upper and lower forged aluminum wishbone suspensions both front and rear, anti-roll bars, Eibach springs and Bilstein dampers. The chassis rigidity and lightweight suspension components give the Evora S razor-sharp handling.

Powering the Evora S is a bit of a surprise, a Toyota sourced 3.5-litre engine mid-mounted transversely. This places the DOHC Dual VVT-i V6 right about in the middle of the car, giving a near-perfect balance front to rear.

Lotus controls the engine with its own T6e engine control unit, which helps it develop 345 horsepower at 7,000 rpm. Maximum torque is rated at 295 foot-pounds at 4,500 rpm for the all-aluminum motor. With the supercharger adding its boost, the Evora S is capable of delivering 99 horsepower per litre of displacement.

Lotus road cars have given us some timeless beauties and a few dogs over the years, but lately they’ve been on a roll with the Elise and Exige and the upcoming Esprit. The Evora evokes the heady days of the 1960s and Le Mans when the Ford GT-40 was king. Form followed function and racing was a beautiful thing.

The car seems impossibly low with a broad flat nose dominated by a large twin air vents to allow heat to escape. The multi-facet Bi-Xenon headlights angle upwards and with the subtly smiling grille opening, give the Evora S a friendly but mischievous face.

The side profile is perhaps the most aggressive with a very low roof line and a sweeping belt line rising up from behind the front wheel making the car appear to be attacking a corner, even when parked.

Vents in the top leading edges of the rear fenders and exhaust vents in the rear hatch hint at the power plant that lurks below the rear window. With its cast aluminum housing on prominent display, there’s no mistaking this car’s purpose.

A large rear wing bridges the gap between the two rear fenders and is there to generate down force, not just for looks. A functional diffuser lies under the rear bumper as does a rare bit of chrome: the exhaust tips.

It’s a beautiful design with nary a line out of place.

The interior cockpit follows the same path, form following function with beauty as a prerequisite. A heady blend of leather, Alcantara and aluminum, the dash sweeps around from the door and over the simple, clear gauge cluster. The centre console holds the small navigation/info screen and HVAC controls. The short throw shifter is surrounded by a brushed aluminum panel with a few buttons including one marked “sport” that allows the driver to control throttle response and activate the exhaust bypass valve. The sport button also raises the instantaneous rev limit and changes the dynamic stability control settings, resulting in a racier experience.

The seats are leather-covered Recaro racing buckets that provide excellent support under the G-forces that the Evora S is capable of producing.

So we’ve covered two of the three design principles of Lotus; mechanical and aesthetics. But to be worthy of the Chapman legacy, the essential criteria is the driving experience. For that, I was at the ICAR Circuit just north of Montreal with a helmet in hand.

With a 0-60 mph time of 4.3 seconds, the Evora S is very quick off the starting line. If the straight is long enough and you’re feeling brave, keep your foot planted while shifting up through the gears and 100 mph is reached in 10.2 seconds.

Thankfully Lotus has equipped the Evora with a Bosch ABS system of cross-drilled brakes for improved cooling, so there was no fade even after several laps of the track.

My Laser Blue Evora S was running on optional forged aluminum alloy wheels – Diamond Cut Design – 8.5-inch by 19-inch front and 10-inch by 20-inch rear with 235/35 ZR19 (front) and 275/30 ZR20 (rear) Pirelli P-Zero CORSA tires, and they provided good traction with clear signs when their adhesion limits were being reached. No sudden snaps or slides with these tires.

The overall sensation I got from the Evora was one of near-perfect balance. The power did not overwhelm the handling and the braking was more than adequate for the speed. The chassis felt like it pivoted on a gimbal directly under the gearshift at the centre of the car. The flat-bottomed leather and magnesium steering wheel felt directly connected to the contact patches of the front tires.

A driver can easily control the balance between understeer and oversteer with the throttle through the corners. Marvellous stuff!

Lotus Cars has done Chapman proud with the Evora. A GT sports car that combines class-leading handling, reliable power thanks to a supercharged Toyota motor, room for two taller-than-average adults (you can also get a 2+2 with a pair of small rear seats) and timeless styling.

Pricing for the Evora begins at $64,000 for the 2+0 and ride to $77,500 for the Evora S 2+2. Estimated fuel mileage is 9.0L/100 km on the highway, probably a bit worse on your local race track.